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Surly prepper thread - virus related or not...

Wally Fairway

By Wally Fairway
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Goofyboy

Goofyboy 3293

Posted
Posted

Lessons learned:

We were terribly unprepared outside of me grabbing a 96 roll pack of TP. That will not happen again. We have a family lake house with lots of room for storing supplies. After things calm down, we will be stocking up. Hurricanes happen too often down here to not have our other place supplied.

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Jkwellborn

Jkwellborn 6718

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Anyone else have lessons learned :
1. More dry foods. Vacuum seal into smaller portions.
2. More hand gun personal defense rounds
3. Keep hard copy financial info in a to go box
4. More cash on hand 
5. Some type of hand held radio and/scanner (with extra batteries)
6. Another propane tank
9. 9mm carbine / pistol type (glock friendly) maybe a smaller 12 ga shotgun
 
if supply chains and/or interstate travel were to be shut down for 7 days, we would have extreme panic and rioting. Grocery stores would be wiped out day 1. A higher death rate would lead to a more extreme lock down, much more civil discourse 

I wouldnt sweat having personal defense rounds. Making people leak is more important. Put the holes where they need to be. Just have more ammo.

Get some solar panels to run smaller stuff. I really don’t think having a lot of cash on hand is going to do much good if it gets really bad. People will be bartering stuff.

I thought about getting some ham radio stuff for emergencies. Cell phones won’t always work.
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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52553

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We did great on food. Finally went and bought a chest freezer and a couple of guns, been talking about getting both for a while previous. 
In 3 weeks, only left to pick up some crops from a nearby farm and that was a hands free transaction with everything on the order prepacked and a Dropbox for payment. Only other person there stayed in her truck until I drove off. 
local ranch delivered meats, and amazon has been good so far with delivering chips and bars and other snack type foods as needed. 
camper is now a home office instead of a bug out home, but sometimes choices need to be made. 

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15350

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Anyone else have lessons learned :

1. More dry foods. Vacuum seal into smaller portions.

2. More hand gun personal defense rounds

3. Keep hard copy financial info in a to go box

4. More cash on hand 

5. Some type of hand held radio and/scanner (with extra batteries)

6. Another propane tank

9. 9mm carbine / pistol type (glock friendly) maybe a smaller 12 ga shotgun

 

if supply chains and/or interstate travel were to be shut down for 7 days, we would have extreme panic and rioting. Grocery stores would be wiped out day 1. A higher death rate would lead to a more extreme lock down, much more civil discourse 

Civil Discord, but I hear ya.  

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bernorange

bernorange 8362

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I've got one and have used it for cookouts at the beach and when power was down in the aftermath of a few hurricanes.  They get to around 350 degrees F and can cook most anything you might cook in your regular oven.  If the price tag is too rich, you can make one yourself with tin foil and a cardboard box, but you'll soon discover why a purpose built unit has advantages.

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13517

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1 hour ago, Parliament said:

My next house with have a propane/NG generator with enough juice to run the AC and everything.

Like a pool, I think it's a great item when buying a house but I would want to purchase one for my existing house.

off topic, there are plenty of videos that walk you through making decent masks from handkerchiefs. I wouldn't want to walk into a ICU with this on but perhaps than nothing when walking into a store. And if you're worried that the cotton is too porous, you could also add something solid (tin foil?) within the material but I imagine that might get hot for extended wearing.

another basic example with a handkerchief only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B67BdDe2yk

 

 

 

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HRSchenker

HRSchenker 2271

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18 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Anyone else have lessons learned :

1. More dry foods. Vacuum seal into smaller portions.

2. More hand gun personal defense rounds

3. Keep hard copy financial info in a to go box

4. More cash on hand 

5. Some type of hand held radio and/scanner (with extra batteries)

6. Another propane tank

9. 9mm carbine / pistol type (glock friendly) maybe a smaller 12 ga shotgun

 

if supply chains and/or interstate travel were to be shut down for 7 days, we would have extreme panic and rioting. Grocery stores would be wiped out day 1. A higher death rate would lead to a more extreme lock down, much more civil discourse 

I like most of this. 2: I'm more interested in putting holes in bad guys so I don't really have much of a focus on the kinds of rounds I carry. Any is better than none. 4: not doing that. Cash is trash if the shit hits the fan. 5: I would look into a backup battery brand like Anker. I only have 1 appliance in my bug out bag that uses replaceable batteries.

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Lhorn

Lhorn 4930

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Posted
My next house with have a propane/NG generator with enough juice to run the AC and everything.

I bought a 2000 watt Honda generator after Hurricane Sandy convinced me it might be a good idea. After lugging around gas cans this summer for California’s gentle breeze power outages I decided to buy a trifuel conversion kit. So now I can run off gasoline, propane or natural gas (I’m plumbed for natural gas to my gas grill).

Recently got estimates for having an electrician install a transfer switch on the house so I don’t have to run cords all over, but it just didn’t make financial sense. Not gonna spend $1500 so I don’t have to pull out the cords.
This is not close to a whole house, uninterrupted power set up, but will run my fridge, WiFi, TV etc when PG&E decided to cut power in the summer.
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Lhorn

Lhorn 4930

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I'm intrigued by running off of natural gas. How does that work? I have a grill hook-up on my back patio.

Pretty simple. There are YouTube videos that show conversions and companies that offer conversion kits. My kit cost about $200. It’s essentially a regulator that feeds gas (either NG or propane) through a small plate that mounts between the carb and the air filter box. There’s a valve that shuts off gasoline flow to the carb. Installation looks to be under an hour.

I don’t think the 20# propane tanks last all that long (obviously depending on the size of you generator and use), but propane doesn’t go bad like gasoline does so there some benefit for fuel storage.

 

For me as long as NG supply isn’t interrupted I can theoretically run indefinitely without having to collect and store fuel for power outages.

 

I bought a NG hose off eBay with a quick connect fitting so I can unhook my grill and connect my compressor in seconds.

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8819

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On 3/16/2020 at 12:08 PM, Izhmash said:

Thought I'd share a supplemental tactic that I think could help some folks out, both for prepping and normal life.

I'm lazy.  I value convenience over most things, as there just never seems to be enough time.  I was in search of quick meals that are a) healthy, b) fast / limited prep, and c) taste good.  I landed on HUEL, which is a pea protein based vegan meal supplement.  This shit is great (get the vanilla).  The bags store for 12 months or so, and 6 months once opened.  I have used it mostly for weight management in the past 12 months and I've enjoyed it.  Really like their new variety called "Black", which has increased protein content....so I've increased my use for my meal following a workout.  Anyhow, it dawned on me that I prefer this much more than MRE's, so I bought a few "extras" to rotate into my cycle while the apocalypse is happening.  I think it's one of those "off the radar" options.  https://huel.com/.  Not to mention it has amazing value per meal with zero waste (we throw away a ton of food in our house, which pisses me off).  Qty 17 - 400 Calorie meals per bag.

Enjoy!

Why did I hear "Soylent Green" in my head?

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8819

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On 3/22/2020 at 1:33 PM, blacklab said:

Went by HEB at 360/bee cave and the line was about 100 people long to get in.

Went down to Randall's at bee cave/walsh tarleton and no line but busier than I have ever seen it. Several empty shelves but had a lot of staples that heb in bee cave did not have yesterday including spaghetti, ground beef, soups, sugar, flour. The bakery was open and they had rotisserie chicken which heb did not.  Did not have to wait in line to check out.

Your post caused me to make this slight derail.

I have ALWAYS HATED self checkout until this crisis. Now I use it exclusively due to the fact that it is easier to maintain social distancing and faster than being crammed in a line for God knows how long, and with God knows what swarming all over you.

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Okie State

Okie State 3824

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Pretty simple. There are YouTube videos that show conversions and companies that offer conversion kits. My kit cost about $200. It’s essentially a regulator that feeds gas (either NG or propane) through a small plate that mounts between the carb and the air filter box. There’s a valve that shuts off gasoline flow to the carb. Installation looks to be under an hour.
I don’t think the 20# propane tanks last all that long (obviously depending on the size of you generator and use), but propane doesn’t go bad like gasoline does so there some benefit for fuel storage.
 
For me as long as NG supply isn’t interrupted I can theoretically run indefinitely without having to collect and store fuel for power outages.
 
I bought a NG hose off eBay with a quick connect fitting so I can unhook my grill and connect my compressor in seconds.
Had no idea this was a thing. I'll have to look into it. Thanks.
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next2naus

next2naus 439

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15 hours ago, Lhorn said:


I bought a 2000 watt Honda generator after Hurricane Sandy convinced me it might be a good idea. After lugging around gas cans this summer for California’s gentle breeze power outages I decided to buy a trifuel conversion kit. So now I can run off gasoline, propane or natural gas (I’m plumbed for natural gas to my gas grill).

Recently got estimates for having an electrician install a transfer switch on the house so I don’t have to run cords all over, but it just didn’t make financial sense. Not gonna spend $1500 so I don’t have to pull out the cords.
This is not close to a whole house, uninterrupted power set up, but will run my fridge, WiFi, TV etc when PG&E decided to cut power in the summer.

seems pound foolish

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Lhorn

Lhorn 4930

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I think maybe you were talking about the transfer switch.  I would agree in my case.  Not to get into it far, the switch allows you to disconnect from the grid so that your generator doesn't backfeed into the the electrical grid.  In my case, other than spending $1500 for the switch, they said I would have to upgrade my generator.  Not worth it for my needs.  I just want to keep my food from going bad and run some lights and a TV, etc.  

If I lived in an area where AC were mandatory, I might consider the switch, but in northern california, AC is largely optional 

 

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Thetexashammer

Thetexashammer 1062

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On 4/2/2020 at 9:47 AM, bernorange said:

I've got one and have used it for cookouts at the beach and when power was down in the aftermath of a few hurricanes.  They get to around 350 degrees F and can cook most anything you might cook in your regular oven.  If the price tag is too rich, you can make one yourself with tin foil and a cardboard box, but you'll soon discover why a purpose built unit has advantages.

Will it sear a steak? I didn't think so. Checkmate bro!!!!!

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Lhorn

Lhorn 4930

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1 hour ago, next2naus said:

ok, just seems like its a nominal spend for a large bit of convenience. 

I might be cheap too.  

 

It might be more straight forward for other people than it was for me.  I have a main electrical box on the side of the house along with a sub box in the kitchen and another in the garage (where we have a second refrigerator).  

I had 3 electricians give estimates and every one had a different option on how it HAD to be done.  The main switch would be on the side of house which is at the opposite end of the home from my grill, so I'd need a create another gas hook up if I wanted to run the generator on NG.  2 guys said we'd have to run a switch to the pantry sub box.  Essentially the way they wanted to do it, I would only be powering half the house.  Either the kitchen or the rest (bedrooms, bathrooms, etc) of the house but not both.  So despite all the expense, I'd still be running extension cords.  None of this would power the garage so I'd also have to run an extension cord for the garage fridge.  Two guys also said I'd need a much bigger generator.  So the expense would be $1500 plus a couple grand (at least) for a bigger invertor generator, but I'd still have to run some cords.  It made no sense to me.

I assumed you just buy a $400 manual transfer switch at Home Depot which disconnects you from the grid and back feed your whole house from the sub box in the garage, but apparently that isn't so.  I'm not an electrician obviously. 

 

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Texaus

Texaus 377

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Or just feed everything through a 240 plug installed near your natural gas hookup(assuming you have a generator with a 240 rv outlet). Don’t be an idiot and forget to turn the main off so you do not backfeed the electrical grid. Turn off any breakers your generator can’t handle.

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RPM

RPM 26335

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3 hours ago, Lhorn said:

I assumed you just buy a $400 manual transfer switch at Home Depot which disconnects you from the grid and back feed your whole house from the sub box in the garage, but apparently that isn't so.  I'm not an electrician obviously. 

 

This is what I'm thinking. Why wouldn't that work?

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Jkwellborn

Jkwellborn 6718

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Or just feed everything through a 240 plug installed near your natural gas hookup(assuming you have a generator with a 240 rv outlet). Don’t be an idiot and forget to turn the main off so you do not backfeed the electrical grid. Turn off any breakers your generator can’t handle.

I got absolutely blasted for saying the same thing on the old board.
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Texaus

Texaus 377

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I got absolutely blasted for saying the same thing on the old board.

It is not the cleanest way of doing it, but we are talking about power during a disaster, fuck the haters. After Harvey, I wired in a generator to coast house directly to a 240 breaker to power the panel. It was ugly, but worked. Just have to turn off the main and it is all isolated to whatever circuits are in tour house.
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Okie State

Okie State 3824

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I'm definitely considering finally getting a garage fridge.
Don’t consider it. Just buy one.  Worst case you’re out a few hundred and you can now store more food at home especially when you see sales.
I agree. Just told the wife to shut down all non-essential purchases to conserve cash until some uncertainty passes. Will see if I can find a good deal. I know deep freezes are super cheap. I'd prefer a fridge/freezer though so it could be the designated beer fridge during non-pandemic times.
Finally pulled the trigger on this. Ordered a Whirlpool for $479 from Lowe's on Thursday afternoon and they delivered it by noon on Friday.
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davidg

davidg 4038

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For some reason YouTube suggested that watch some prepper bunker videos. I would rather die than go into those death traps. Outside of using it during a tornado or other short term emergency that could be measured in minutes or an hour, no way would I spend weeks in there.

 

giphy.gif

 

 

 

 

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Scooter Monzingo

Scooter Monzingo 821

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Posted
On 4/3/2020 at 4:46 PM, Jkwellborn said:

If you get a transfer switch, get an auto one. Is that $1500 for the electrician to bring everything out and hook it up?

It was not for me. It cost me an additional $300. And getting someone who understands the fucking thing is really important. And you the home owner should be cognizant of your homes power needs. Most people don’t realize what is and is not efficient. Modern freezer...damn efficient. Well pump....power eater. It is the most inefficient device in a home. Pulls more amps than a A/C or stove. 

The switch has the ability to reroute, or prioritize if you will the load demands. So if your 100 generator powers your entire household. And it gets taxed because of how much shit your wife wants to run. The logic will adjust output until you cut something off. This logic is why the fucker is so expensive. But it works very well. I go through about 3 seconds of lag time when the power goes out and I’m on the generator. By the way..... convenience is not cheap.

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Treefidy

Treefidy 1469

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On 4/1/2020 at 6:06 PM, tx 3 putt said:

Anyone else have lessons learned :

1. More dry foods. Vacuum seal into smaller portions.

2. More hand gun personal defense rounds

3. Keep hard copy financial info in a to go box

4. More cash on hand 

5. Some type of hand held radio and/scanner (with extra batteries)

6. Another propane tank

9. 9mm carbine / pistol type (glock friendly) maybe a smaller 12 ga shotgun

 

if supply chains and/or interstate travel were to be shut down for 7 days, we would have extreme panic and rioting. Grocery stores would be wiped out day 1. A higher death rate would lead to a more extreme lock down, much more civil discourse 

Some lessons:. 

Did not anticipate hand sanitizer, I have 3 cases of everclear but also have 18 cases of mixed liquor set aside for trade.  Need to fix that.    

Need to do a better job of stocking and rotating pasta.  Beans and rice are fine but pasta doesn't store nearly as long. 

Need more fruit. Need to add it more to the diet so we can get a deeper stocking and rotation.  

Need more solar, also really would like to add a vertical wind turbine.  Time to get back on a project I started planning several years ago.  Solar water pump, draw water into a chute that travels about 100' with about 40' of drop with water wheel generators along the big drops.  

down to 88k rounds of ammo, situation getting dire. Need to correct that deficiency.   A max of 6 chamberings would be ideal for prepping efficiency but alas...

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Treefidy

Treefidy 1469

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Posted
On 4/3/2020 at 4:53 PM, Lhorn said:

I might be cheap too.  

 

It might be more straight forward for other people than it was for me.  I have a main electrical box on the side of the house along with a sub box in the kitchen and another in the garage (where we have a second refrigerator).  

I had 3 electricians give estimates and every one had a different option on how it HAD to be done.  The main switch would be on the side of house which is at the opposite end of the home from my grill, so I'd need a create another gas hook up if I wanted to run the generator on NG.  2 guys said we'd have to run a switch to the pantry sub box.  Essentially the way they wanted to do it, I would only be powering half the house.  Either the kitchen or the rest (bedrooms, bathrooms, etc) of the house but not both.  So despite all the expense, I'd still be running extension cords.  None of this would power the garage so I'd also have to run an extension cord for the garage fridge.  Two guys also said I'd need a much bigger generator.  So the expense would be $1500 plus a couple grand (at least) for a bigger invertor generator, but I'd still have to run some cords.  It made no sense to me.

I assumed you just buy a $400 manual transfer switch at Home Depot which disconnects you from the grid and back feed your whole house from the sub box in the garage, but apparently that isn't so.  I'm not an electrician obviously. 

 

Look up charts online for amperage/distance/size.  If you are producing enough amps to run most or all of your house, you will need big wire or wire will fry under higher loads.  The bus bar lugs on your panel aren't going to hold much larger than 6/3 wire, the main lugs will hold large aught wire.  It's not hard to do at all, but no electrician is going to put their license on the line or risk burning your house down. 

For an emergency situation you could install a disconnect between the meter and the panel so you can absolutely disconnect power.  Then just pull your main lines out of the panel luv and put your generator wires in their place.   This is just allowing you to cut power to your main panel so you can safely mess with wires, similar to turning off your main breaker to hot wire a sub panel. 

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Jhawk

Jhawk 1075

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Anyone have an encrypted sat phone? Have been looking at these but also reading that the code has been cracked on them and eavesdropping can take place in seconds with the right equipment.  Anyone know if there is such a thing as untraceable Mobile communication Anymore?

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davidg

davidg 4038

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Posted
Some lessons:. 
Did not anticipate hand sanitizer, I have 3 cases of everclear but also have 18 cases of mixed liquor set aside for trade.  Need to fix that.    
Need to do a better job of stocking and rotating pasta.  Beans and rice are fine but pasta doesn't store nearly as long. 
Need more fruit. Need to add it more to the diet so we can get a deeper stocking and rotation.  
Need more solar, also really would like to add a vertical wind turbine.  Time to get back on a project I started planning several years ago.  Solar water pump, draw water into a chute that travels about 100' with about 40' of drop with water wheel generators along the big drops.  
down to 88k rounds of ammo, situation getting dire. Need to correct that deficiency.   A max of 6 chamberings would be ideal for prepping efficiency but alas...



Why go through the inefficiencies and costs of converting solar power to mechanical to hydraulic back to electrical?



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Parliament

Parliament 14282

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Posted
16 hours ago, Jhawk said:

Anyone have an encrypted sat phone? Have been looking at these but also reading that the code has been cracked on them and eavesdropping can take place in seconds with the right equipment.  Anyone know if there is such a thing as untraceable Mobile communication Anymore?

Burners from Walmart and old-style phone booths.

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